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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Patternum Novum: Lunaris Shawl

I was disappointed to see, when I logged in just now to write this
post, that the last time I updated this blog was when I published Shadow
& Glow back in mid-July. Awful! I've written a number of posts in
my head, but the little man allows me so little computer time these days
(unless I want to spend the next hour watching digger videos on
YouTube...) that they just haven't made it into Blogger. But we're
slowly settling into a routine here (finally sans home
renovations) and I hope that will change. And I hope to actually share
some of the home renovations here, which I thought I'd be doing all
along these past few months!

Anyway, what finally prompted me to bribe young Daniel with a popsicle and log in was that there is a new Yarniad pattern
out there as of today. This is another shawl, another exploration of
gradient striping, more simple Stockinette and Garter stitch, but this
time in a crescent moon shape.

Lunaris (Latin for lunar
after the shawl's shape) is knit from the top down beginning with a
Garter Tab cast on (for which I've provided a little photo tutorial) and
is worked in Stockinette stripes all the way down to the Garter Stitch
border. I knitted two samples to play with different types of stripes --
the above (in Anzula Squishy and Cloud) has very obviously distinct
stripes, and the monochrome version...

in
Shibui Knits Cima and Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering, uses two yarns
with very similar colors but slightly different weights and textures. I
think this small change in yarns makes for two very different looks.
(And, I personally love them both!)

The
nature of the increases used to shape the shawl and the way the fabric
falls when the shawl is worn create the subtlest of ruffles along the
edge, which I think makes this piece fun to wear as a scarf as well.

What a beautiful shawl, the shaping is so lovely. I totally know what you mean about not having a lot of computer time, and I don't even have a home reno on the go! It's awesome that you are finding time to design beautiful new knits!